This publication explores the development of a cultural public sphere in Central Eastern Europe. Framed by reflections on the past, it invites to follow the contemporary experiences of the project SPACES – Sustainable Public Areas for Culture in Eastern Countries, that unfolded numerous participative artistic and cultural actions in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine from 2011 until 2014.

From underground passages in Tbilisi, Georgia, to places of memory in Yerevan, Armenia, derelict industrial zones in Kiev, Ukraine and areas of urban conflicts in Chisinau, Moldova, the artistic interventions presented in this volume mirror the social transformation processes in post-Soviet Europe and the positioning of artists in the struggle for change and for new, empowered forms of citizenship.